Improvement in needle-threaders



Fig. 2.

Q/ w w j Witnesses A v l inventor l ATENT Brion.

JAMES OKANE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

lMPROVEM ENT IN NEEDLE-TH READERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,394, dated April 19,1864.

To all whom it may concern: Y

Be it known that I, JAMES OKANE, of the city and State of New York, haveinvented, made, and applied to use a cert-ain new and useful Improvementin Needle-Threadeis; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1is an elevation of said threader on an enlarged scale. Fig. 2 is asimilar view with a needle in place, and Fig. 3 is alongitudinalsection.

Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.

Needle-threaders have heretofore been constructed with a tapering holeto direct the thread, and with a stop for the end of the needle to bringthe eye over the end of said tapering hole, as may be seen in LettersPatent granted to me February 3, 1863. Ihe difculty in all these casesis to arrest the end of the needle, so that the eye shall always be onthe line oi' the tapering hole, whether the needle be large or small,without the employment of adjustable mechanism.

The nature of my said invention consists in a groove with inclined sidesand end, receiv. ing the needle, in combination with the said taperinghole, whereby' theneedle is correctly located with the eye on the lineof the hole, in consequence of laying the eye end of the needle in saidgroove. This is effected by the inclined sides of the groove sustainingthe needle higher up or lower down in the groove, according to the sizeof the body ofthe needle, and hence the inclined end ot' the groove,arresting the end movement of the needle, (in placing it in the groove,)allows the thicker metal of the eye in larger needles to passsufficiently over the hole, so that in all cases the eye itself is onthe line of the tapering thread-hole.

In the drawings, a is a strip of metal, or other suitablematerial,receivin g and sustaining the threader. b is a tapering hole,and c is the groove with inclined sides and end,re ceiving the needle d,as aforesaid.

The parts b and c may be made in one piece of metal, hard rubber, orother suitable material; or they may be attached on opposite sides ofthe plate a. I prefer that they be made together, as shown, and thatnotches on the sides, as at g g, be used to secure the parts to theplate a, a small forked plate passing across and taking said notches.

I make use of a spring guide and holder, e, formed by bending up the endof the plate a and tapering the end thereof, as represented, so that theneedle, when passed through a hole at f, will be guided to the groove c,and the end of e pressing on the flattened side of the eye will bringthat correctly to position forpassingintothe groove. This spring guideand holder is similar to that shown in my aforesaid patent.

This instrument is used as follows: The needle is entered through theholef, and slid in with the eye end iirst, until it comes against theend of the groove c. The thread is then passed into and through thetapering hole, and by it is guided through the needle-eye. 'lhe needleand its thread are then removed from the instrument, in doing which thelength of thread is drawn through the hole b.

That I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l l1. Thegroove e,\vith thc inclined sides and end, receiving the needle anddetermining the position of the eye, in combination with the taperinghole b for the thread, as specified.

2. The spring guide and holder e, in combination with the groove c, forthe purposes and as specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 18th day ofNovember, 1863.

JAMES OIKANE.

Witnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, Trios. GEO. HAROLD.

